The present invention relates to an apparatus for feeding pieces of cloth to a device for treating clothes, such as a rotary ironer comprising a conveyor with a direction of conveyance configured for conveying the pieces of cloth, said apparatus comprising: one or more spreader devices, each of which has a set of spreader clamps for releasably receiving a piece of cloth from a charger station along an edge and in proximity of a pair of adjacent corners of the piece of cloth, where each spreader device is configured for moving the spreader clamps away from each other transversally of the direction of conveyance for straightening said fore edge and for delivering said piece of cloth to the conveyor.
Apparatuses of this kind, that are also designated feeders, are often used in industrial scale laundries, eg in connection with the feeding of rectangular pieces of cloth, where the pieces of cloth are, in a wrinkled state, fed to the feeder, following which it is spread out with the object of straightening any wrinkles and folds on the piece of cloth prior to the latter being taken to a subsequent clothes treatment device which is most often a rotary ironer. The pieces of cloth will most often be in a more or less moist state when fed to the feeder.
The known feeders of this type comprise a spreader device with a pair of releasable spreader clamps that are movably configured transversally of the direction of conveyance of the feeder, and each of which is configured to secure a corner on a piece of cloth at the fore end thereof and for straightening the fore edge of the piece of cloth when the spreader clamps are taken away from each other to the effect that now the piece of cloth is suspended in straightened state, following which it is subsequently taken to a conveyor for further conveyance.
The piece of cloth is introduced into the clamp in a receiving position (M) with an edge which is transverse relative to the direction of conveyance in proximity of a pair of adjacent corners of the piece of cloth, to the effect that each spreader clamp carries the piece of cloth across an area at the fore edge and, in an essentially horizontal position, is delivered to a transverse vacuum boom where the fore edge is then, in a delivery position (A), laid on the top face of thereof. Subsequently the vacuum boom is shifted with the fore edge in the direction of conveyance, and the now straightened fore edge falls down onto the top face of the conveyor. Hereby it is accomplished that the piece of cloth should preferably be fully straightened prior to it being fed to a subsequently cloth treatment device which will most often be a rotary ironer.
Typically the spreader device is configured in a position in which the piece of cloth may be suspended freely, which is obtained either by providing a pit in the floor underneath the feeder, or by the spreader device being configured at a sufficient height for the piece of cloth to hang down Thus it is also necessary, if the operator is to operate the feeder from a floor level, to configure a charger station to which the piece of cloth is fed and which is configured for conveying the piece of cloth upwards to the spreader device where it is taken over by the spreader clamps. Inasmuch as the spreader device is concerned, such feeder is known from EP 0 794 279.
Moreover, EP 01 160 370 A2 teaches a feeder by which deposition without transition of the piece of cloth directly from the spreader clamps to the conveyor is accomplished without the simultaneous use of a charger station.
However, it is a problem in the context of the known feeders that in particular the combination of spreader device and feeding via a charger station prevents achievement of both good feeding position and simultaneous accomplishment of optimal delivery position. This occurs in particular due to a correct transfer of the piece of cloth between charger clamps and spreader clamps in the receiving position (M) and furthermore the transfer from spreader clamps to the conveyor/boom both make different requirements for obtaining correct feeding when it is simultaneously to be taken into consideration that it must be possible to take up the piece of cloth in a well-defined manner in the spreader clamps and further it must be possible to advance them straightened on the conveyor. Therefore, it has so far been accepted that one cannot use the charger station while simultaneously obtaining an optimal/correct feeding of the pieces of cloth and hence a desired quality of the treated pieces of cloth.
It is the object of the invention to provide an apparatus for feeding pieces of cloth to a clothes treatment device, whereby it is possible to use a charger station and simultaneously obtain an optimal/correct feeding of the pieces of cloth and hence the desired quality of the treated pieces of cloth.